Superintendent Dusty Shultz is pleased to introduce September's Artist-in-Residence (AIR) at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Kaye Krapohl, an oil painter from Traverse City, Michigan, is immersing herself in the natural wonders of the dunes, forests, beaches, and varied cultural landscapes this national treasure provides. She will present a free program for the public highlighting her work on Friday, October 8, at 2:00 p.m. in Empire at the National Lakeshore's Visitor Center.

During the last few years, Kaye Krapohl has been exploring, through a series of paintings, her attraction to the Leelanau Peninsula and visually sharing the spirit of a living, evolving space that expresses itself through all our senses. Landscape painting is her way to create an honest, visual representation of our connection to the land and our responsibility to respect its power­ and influence on our culture, our agricultural practices, and the shaping of landscape icons such as rivers, lakes, fields and dunes, and farms and forests. Ms. Krapohl tries to reveal the essence of what is sacred and humane in her landscape paintings. She works to capture the weather, light, and geology of the National Lakeshore and promote an understanding of the many microenvironments and unique geology of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

On Friday, October 8, at 2:00 p.m., Ms. Krapohl will present an informative program about her painting and residency. This one-hour presentation is free, open to the public, and will take place in the auditorium of the Philip Hart Visitor Center on M-72 in Empire. Works of art by previous Artists-in-Residence are also on display in the auditorium. Please call 231-326-5134 for more information.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore has sponsored the AIR program for over a decade, and it is open, through competition, to American writers, composers, and visual artists, whose work can be influenced and enhanced by the outstanding features that are protected by the National Park Service and enjoyed by millions of visitors year after year. In exchange for the opportunity to live in the park for a short period, Artists-in-Residence donate an original piece of art to the park, interact with visitors while conducting their craft, and offer at least one public presentation of their work in a formal setting. There are only two sessions (September and October) available each year. For more details, please Click Here.